Methods and devices for facilitating data retransmissions in wireless communication systems

ABSTRACT

Wireless communications devices are adapted to perform retransmissions of data blocks. A wireless communications device can be adapted to transmit a plurality of data blocks to a receiving device. When the plurality of data blocks are transmitted, the wireless communications device can initiate a block timer associated with a round trip time for communications between the wireless communications device and the receiving device. When, prior to expiration of the block timer, a transmission is received with an indication that at least one data block was not successfully received, the wireless communications device can retransmit the unsuccessful data block. On retransmission, the block timer is restarted. If another transmission is received prior to expiration of the restarted block timer, the wireless communications device can ignore any indication of unsuccessful receipt associated with the retransmitted data block. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and described.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technology discussed in this patent application relates generally towireless communication, and more specifically, to methods and devicesfor facilitating retransmission of data in wireless communicationsystems. Embodiments can be used to enable improved throughputperformance in communication networks (e.g., GSMA-type networks).

BACKGROUND

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be accessed byvarious types of access terminals adapted to facilitate wirelesscommunications, where multiple access terminals share the availablesystem resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of suchwireless communications systems include code-division multiple access(CDMA) systems, time-division multiple access (TDMA) systems,frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) systems and orthogonalfrequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.

As access terminals and network devices communicate over an airinterface in a wireless communications system, data is typically dividedinto smaller packets (or data blocks). Data may also be encoded fortransmission with an error detection code so that the receiver candetect erroneous or lost packets and thereby request retransmission. Invarious wireless communications systems, ACK/NACK messages are sent bythe receiving device to the transmitting device to indicate whetherthere was an error in the transmission detected by the receiver. Anacknowledgment (ACK) can indicate that the identified packet has beensuccessfully received. A negative acknowledgment (NACK) can indicate anerror in the transmission detected by the receiver. In response to aNACK message, the transmitter may retransmit the relevant packet(s).

BRIEF SUMMARY OF SOME EXAMPLES

Although ACK/NACK messaging is beneficial in many wirelesscommunications systems, it may occur that conventional ACK/NACKmessaging protocols can result in unnecessary delays and/or unnecessaryretransmissions. It may therefore be beneficial to improve theretransmission procedures in wireless devices operating in a wirelesscommunications system. Various examples of the present disclosureinclude devices and methods for facilitating transmission andretransmission of data by wireless devices. Indeed, by modifyingconventional ACK/NACK protocols as discussed herein, networkcommunications can be improved leading to improved throughputperformance. As a result, embodiments of the technology discussed inthis application can improve data communication speed and userexperience.

The following summarizes some aspects of the present disclosure toprovide a basic understanding of the discussed technology. This summaryis not an extensive overview of all contemplated features of thedisclosure, and is intended neither to identify key or critical elementsof all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of any orall aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present someconcepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in summary form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

According to at least one aspect of the present disclosure, wirelesscommunications devices may include a communications interface and astorage medium each coupled with a processing circuit. The processingcircuit may be adapted to transmit a plurality of data blocks via thecommunications interface. The processing circuit may initiate a blocktimer associated with a round trip time for each data block of theplurality of data blocks. A transmission may be received by theprocessing circuit via the communications interface, where the receivedtransmission includes an indication that at least one data block of theplurality of data blocks has not been successfully received. Thetransmission may be received prior to expiration of the block timer. Inresponse to the indication included in the received transmission, theprocessing circuit may retransmit each data block indicated to have notbeen successfully received. On retransmission of the unsuccessfullyreceived data blocks, the processing circuit may restart the blocktimer. Another transmission may be received via the communicationsinterface, where the other transmission includes an indication that oneor more of the retransmitted data blocks have not been successfullyreceived. If this indication is received before the block timer expires,the processing circuit may ignore the indication that one or more datablocks were not successfully received.

Further aspects of the present disclosure provide methods operational ona wireless communications device and/or wireless communications devicesincluding means to perform such methods. One or more examples of suchmethods may include transmitting a plurality of data blocks, andinitiating a block timer associated with a round trip time for each datablock of the plurality of data blocks. A transmission may be received,where the transmission includes an indication that at least one datablock of the plurality of data blocks has not been successfullyreceived. This transmission may be received prior to expiration of theblock timer. In response to this transmission received prior toexpiration of the block timer, the each unsuccessful data block can beretransmitted. The block timer is restarted after retransmission of eachunsuccessful data block. Another transmission may be received includingan indication that one or more of the retransmitted data blocks have notbeen successfully received. If this indication is received before theblock timer has expired, the indication can be ignored.

Still further aspects include computer-readable storage mediumscomprising programming operational on a computer, such as a wirelesscommunications device. According to one or more examples, suchprogramming may be adapted for causing a computer to transmit aplurality of data blocks, and initiate a block timer associated with around trip time for each data block of the plurality of data blocks.When a transmission is received prior to expiration of the block timer,and the transmission includes an indication that one or more data blockhas not been successfully received, the programming may be adapted forcausing a computer to retransmit the one or more unsuccessful datablocks. The programming may further be adapted to cause a computer torestart the block timer on retransmission of each unsuccessful datablock. When another transmission is received prior to expiration of theblock timer, and the other transmission includes an indication that atleast one data block has not been successfully received, the programmingmay be adapted for causing a computer to ignore the indication that theone or more data blocks were not successfully received.

Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention willbecome apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, upon reviewingthe following description of specific, exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. Whilefeatures of the present invention may be discussed relative to certainembodiments and figures below, all embodiments of the present inventioncan include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein.In other words, while one or more embodiments may be discussed as havingcertain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also beused in accordance with the various embodiments of the inventiondiscussed herein. In similar fashion, while exemplary embodiments may bediscussed below as device, system, or method embodiments it should beunderstood that such exemplary embodiments can be implemented in variousdevices, systems, and methods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a networkenvironment in which one or more aspects of the present disclosure mayfind application.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating select components of the wirelesscommunication system of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating at least one example of anACK/NACK report according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating at least one example of selecttransmissions between a base station and access terminal and selectoperations on the access terminal according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating select components of a wirelesscommunications device according to some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method operational on a wirelesscommunications device according to some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description set forth below in connection with the appended drawingsis intended as a description of various configurations and is notintended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts andfeatures described herein may be practiced. The following descriptionincludes specific details for the purpose of providing a thoroughunderstanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without thesespecific details. In some instances, well known circuits, structures,techniques and components are shown in block diagram form to avoidobscuring the described concepts and features.

The various concepts presented throughout this disclosure may beimplemented across a broad variety of telecommunication systems, networkarchitectures, and communication standards. Certain aspects of thediscussions are described below for 3rd Generation Partnership Project(3GPP) protocols and systems, and related terminology may be found inmuch of the following description. However, those of ordinary skill inthe art will recognize that one or more aspects of the presentdisclosure may be employed and included in one or more other wirelesscommunication protocols and systems.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network environment in which one or moreaspects of the present disclosure may find application. The wirelesscommunications system 100 is adapted to facilitate wirelesscommunication between a plurality of wireless communication devices,including base stations 102 and access terminals 104. The wirelesscommunication devices (e.g., the base stations 102 and access terminals104) may be adapted to interact with one another through wirelesssignals. In some instances, wireless interaction may occur on multiplecarriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). Each modulatedsignal may carry control information (e.g., pilot signals), overheadinformation, data, etc.

The base stations 102 can wirelessly communicate with the accessterminals 104 via a base station antenna. The base stations 102 may eachbe implemented generally as a device adapted to facilitate wirelessconnectivity (for one or more access terminals 104) to the wirelesscommunications system 100. The base stations 102 are configured tocommunicate with the access terminals 104 under the control of a basestation controller (see FIG. 2). Each of the base station 102 sites canprovide communication coverage for a respective geographic area. Thecoverage area 106 for each base station 102 here is identified as cells106-a, 106-b, or 106-c. The coverage area 106 for a base station 102 maybe divided into sectors (not shown, but making up only a portion of thecoverage area). The system 100 may include base stations 102 ofdifferent types (e.g., macro, micro, and/or pico base stations).

One or more access terminals 104 may be dispersed throughout thecoverage areas 106. Each access terminal 104 may communicate with one ormore base stations 102. An access terminal 104 may generally include oneor more devices that communicate with one or more other devices throughwireless signals. Such an access terminal 104 may also be referred to bythose skilled in the art as a user equipment (UE), a mobile station(MS), a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wirelessunit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wirelesscommunications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, amobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, aterminal, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some othersuitable terminology. An access terminal 104 may include a mobileterminal and/or an at least substantially fixed terminal. Examples of anaccess terminal 104 include a mobile phone, a pager, a wireless modem, apersonal digital assistant, a personal information manager (PIM), apersonal media player, a palmtop computer, a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a television, an appliance, an e-reader, an entertainmentdevice, a digital video recorder (DVR), a machine-to-machine (M2M)device, and/or other communication/computing device which communicates,at least partially, through a wireless or cellular network.

Turning to FIG. 2, a block diagram illustrating select components of thewireless communication system 100 is depicted according to at least oneexample. As illustrated, the base stations 102 are included as at leasta part of a radio access network (RAN) 202. The radio access network(RAN) 202 is generally adapted to manage traffic and signaling betweenone or more access terminals 104 and one or more other network entities,such as network entities included in a core network 204. The radioaccess network 202 may, according to various implementations, bereferred to by those skill in the art as a base station subsystem (BSS),an access network, a GSM Edge Radio Access Network (GERAN), etc.

In addition to one or more base stations 102, the radio access network202 can include a base station controller (BSC) 206, which may also bereferred to by those of skill in the art as a radio network controller(RNC). The base station controller 206 is generally responsible for theestablishment, release, and maintenance of wireless connections withinone or more coverage areas associated with the one or more base stations102 which are connected to the base station controller 206. The basestation controller 206 can be communicatively coupled to one or morenodes or entities of the core network 204.

The core network 204 is a portion of the wireless communications system100 that provides various services to access terminals 104 that areconnected via the radio access network 202. The core network 204 mayinclude a circuit-switched (CS) domain and a packet-switched (PS)domain. Some examples of circuit-switched entities include a mobileswitching center (MSC) and visitor location register (VLR), identifiedas MSC/VLR 208, as well as a Gateway MSC (GMSC) 210. Some examples ofpacket-switched elements include a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 212and a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) 214. Other network entities maybe included, such as a EIR, HLR, VLR and AuC, some or all of which maybe shared by both the circuit-switched and packet-switched domains. Anaccess terminal 104 can obtain access to a public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN) 216 via the circuit-switched domain, and to an IP network218 via the packet-switched domain.

The wireless communications devices (e.g., base stations 102 and accessterminals 104) may wirelessly communicate information by transmittingbinary bits organized into data blocks over an air interface from onedevice to another. Within the framework of a wireless communicationssystem 100 adapted to facilitate 3rd Generation Partnership Project(3GPP) protocols and systems, ACK/NACK messages are employed to indicatean error in the transmission detected by a receiving wirelesscommunications device. According to the 3GPP standards document TS44.060 release 11, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated hereinby this reference, an ACK/NACK report can be sent from a receivingwireless communications device to a transmitting wireless communicationsdevice. Referring to FIG. 3, a block diagram is shown illustrating anACK/NACK report 300 according to at least one example. The ACK/NACKreport 300 may include various fields. These fields may include: abeginning-of-transmission window (BOW) field 302, a starting sequencenumber (SSN) field 304, a reported bitmap field 306, and a transmitformat indicator field (TFI) 308.

Each of these fields may include various data. For example, thebeginning-of-transmission window (BOW) field 302 indicates whether thebeginning of the window (i.e., the blocks before the starting sequencenumber (SSN)) is covered by the ACK/NACK report 300. As another example,the SSN 304 includes a sequence number associated with the data blocknumber for which the ACK/NACK report 300 starts. Also, the reportedbitmap field 306 includes the actual ACK/NACK bits where each bitindicates an acknowledgment (ACK) or negative acknowledgment (NACK). Inthe illustrated example, the reported bitmap 306 includes 12 bitscorresponding to the sequence numbers starting from the SSN throughSSN+11. If, for example, the value in the SSN field 304 is 10, then thereported bitmap 306 would include a report for each of data blocknumbers 10 through 21. In the reported bitmap 306, a value of ‘0’ for aparticular bit indicates a NACK signifying that the data blockassociated with the particular bit was not successfully received and maybe retransmitted by the transmitting device. A value of ‘1’ for aparticular bit in the reported bitmap 306 indicates an ACK signifyingthat the data block associated with the particular bit was successfullyreceived. Other values may also be utilized to signify reception ornon-reception.

The transmission of data blocks from a sender to a receiver, andACK/NACK reports from the receiver to the sender takes a certain amountof time. This time period is often referred to as the round trip time(RTT). The round trip time (RTT) includes the time associated with thesender sending a data block, the receiver receiving the data block, thedata block being processing to determine if it is correctly received,generating an ACK/NACK report message for that data block, transmittingthe ACK/NACK report, and receiving the ACK/NACK report message at thesender. As a result of the round trip time (RTT), the sender may notknow whether a sent data block arrived at the receiver before or afterthe ACK/NACK report was sent by the receiver.

An approach applied in 3GPP GERAN systems to overcome this issueincludes the base station 102 informing the access terminal 104 of thecurrent round trip time (RTT). The access terminal 104 can employ thereported round trip time (RTT) when calculating whether a specific bitin a reported bitmap 306 indicating and ACK or a NACK for a data blockis valid or not. In current implementations of 3GPP GERAN systems, thisestimated round trip time (RTT) is broadcast by the base station 102 toeach access terminal 104 in a given cell 106 with the name “BS_CV_MAX.”The sending device can start a timer with a duration defined at least inpart by the BS_CV_MAX parameter when a data block is transmitted. If thesending device receives an ACK/NACK report message including an ACK/NACKfor a data block for which the timer has not yet expired, the sendingdevice is to ignore that report. That is, since the round trip time hasnot expired, it is likely that the ACK/NACK report message was sentbefore the data block arrived at the receiving device. In someinstances, however, waiting for such a timer to expire beforeretransmitting a data block may increase latency and decreasethroughput, while also causing real-time streaming applications tounderperform in a wireless communications environment.

According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, a wirelesscommunications device can perform early retransmissions in response to aNACK message received following the first transmission of a radio block,even though a block timer associated with the round trip time (RTT) hasnot yet expired. FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating interactionsbetween a base station and an access terminal according to at least oneexample of the present disclosure. In the depicted example, a basestation 102 and an access terminal 104 from FIGS. 1 and 2 are shown byway of example only. In this example, an access terminal 104 canwirelessly transmit a plurality of data blocks at 402. In addition tosending the plurality of data blocks, the access terminal 104 initiatesa block timer 404 associated with the transmission of each data block.This block timer 404 can be associated with the round trip time (RTT),and may be at least partially defined by a BS_CV_MAX parameter receivedfrom the base station 102.

After receiving at least some of the plurality of data blocks, the basestation 102 prepares and sends an ACK/NACK report message 406 adapted toindicate that one or more data blocks have not been successfullyreceived. In the illustrated example, the access terminal 104 receivesthe ACK/NACK report message prior to expiration of the block timer.Instead of ignoring the ACK/NACK report message as a conventional accessterminal would, the access terminal 104 resends the data blocks 408which the ACK/NACK report message indicated had not been successfullyreceived (e.g., the data blocks associated with a NACK in the ACK/NACKreport).

According to at least one aspect, wireless communications devices of thepresent disclosure can, for each retransmission, employ the block timerto determine whether to ignore any subsequent ACK/NACK report for aretransmitted data block for which the block timer has not yet expired.For instance, in addition to resending the data blocks 408 which theACK/NACK report message indicated had not been successfully received,the access terminal 104 also starts the block timer 410 (or restarts theblock timer if the block timer has not yet expired) for those datablocks that were retransmitted.

The base station 102 may send an ACK/NACK report message 412 associatedwith the resent data blocks. In some instances, this ACK/NACK reportmessage associated with the resent data blocks may be received by theaccess terminal 104 prior to expiration of the block timer. In suchinstances, there is uncertainty whether the received ACK/NACK reportmessage was sent by the base station 102 before reception of theretransmitted data block(s) by the base station 102. The access terminal104 can accordingly be adapted to ignore 414 any indicated NACKs in theACK/NACK report associated with the retransmitted data block(s), whenthe ACK/NACK report message is received before the block timer hasexpired. The access terminal 104 can, however, process any indicatedACKs in the ACK/NACK report associated with the retransmitted datablock(s).

Turning to FIG. 5, a block diagram is shown illustrating selectcomponents of a wireless communications device 500 according to at leastone example of the present disclosure. Such a wireless communicationsdevice 500 may be implemented, for example as one or more of thewireless communications devices described above with reference to FIGS.1 and 2. The wireless communications device 500 includes a processingcircuit 502 coupled to or placed in electrical communication with acommunications interface 504 and a storage medium 506.

The processing circuit 502 is arranged to obtain, process and/or senddata, control data access and storage, issue commands, and control otherdesired operations. The processing circuit 502 may include circuitryadapted to implement desired programming provided by appropriate mediain at least one example. For example, the processing circuit 502 may beimplemented as one or more processors, one or more controllers, and/orother structure configured to execute executable programming. Examplesof the processing circuit 502 may include a general purpose processor, adigital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or otherprogrammable logic component, discrete gate or transistor logic,discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed toperform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor mayinclude a microprocessor, as well as any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processing circuit502 may also be implemented as a combination of computing components,such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a number ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, an ASIC and a microprocessor, or any other number of varyingconfigurations. These examples of the processing circuit 502 are forillustration and other suitable configurations within the scope of thepresent disclosure are also contemplated.

The processing circuit 502 is adapted for processing, including theexecution of programming, which may be stored on the storage medium 506.As used herein, the term “programming” shall be construed broadly toinclude without limitation instructions, instruction sets, data, code,code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules,applications, software applications, software packages, routines,subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures,functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware,microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

The communications interface 504 is configured to facilitate wirelesscommunications of the wireless communications device 500. For example,the communications interface 504 may include circuitry and/orprogramming adapted to facilitate the communication of informationbi-directionally with respect to one or more other wirelesscommunications devices. The communications interface 504 may be coupledto one or more antennas (not shown), and includes wireless transceivercircuitry, including at least one receiver circuit 508 (e.g., one ormore receiver chains) and/or at least one transmitter circuit 510 (e.g.,one or more transmitter chains).

The storage medium 506 may represent one or more computer-readable,machine-readable, and/or processor-readable devices for storingprogramming, such as processor executable code or instructions (e.g.,software, firmware), electronic data, databases, or other digitalinformation. The storage medium 506 may also be used for storing datathat is manipulated by the processing circuit 502 when executingprogramming. The storage medium 506 may be any available media that canbe accessed by a general purpose or special purpose processor, includingportable or fixed storage devices, optical storage devices, and variousother mediums capable of storing, containing and/or carryingprogramming. By way of example and not limitation, the storage medium506 may include a computer-readable, machine-readable, and/orprocessor-readable storage medium such as a magnetic storage device(e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strip), an optical storagemedium (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD)), a smartcard, a flash memory device (e.g., card, stick, key drive), randomaccess memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM),erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a register,a removable disk, and/or other mediums for storing programming, as wellas any combination thereof.

The storage medium 506 may be coupled to the processing circuit 502 suchthat the processing circuit 502 can read information from, and writeinformation to, the storage medium 506. That is, the storage medium 506can be coupled to the processing circuit 502 so that the storage medium506 is at least accessible by the processing circuit 502, includingexamples where the storage medium 506 is integral to the processingcircuit 502 and/or examples where the storage medium 506 is separatefrom the processing circuit 502 (e.g., resident in the wirelesscommunications device 500, external to the wireless communicationsdevice 500, and/or distributed across multiple entities).

Programming stored by the storage medium 506, when executed by theprocessing circuit 502, causes the processing circuit 502 to perform oneor more of the various functions and/or process steps described herein.For example, the storage medium 506 may include data block transmissionoperations 512. The data block transmission operations 512 can beimplemented by the processing circuit 502 to perform and/or manage datablock transmissions, block timers, and/or data block retransmissions.Thus, according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, theprocessing circuit 502 is adapted to perform (in conjunction with thestorage medium 506) any or all of the processes, functions, steps and/orroutines for any or all of the wireless communications devices describedherein (e.g., base station 102, access terminal 104, wirelesscommunications device 500). As used herein, the term “adapted” inrelation to the processing circuit 502 may refer to the processingcircuit 502 being one or more of configured, employed, implemented,and/or programmed (in conjunction with the storage medium 506) toperform a particular process, function, step and/or routine according tovarious features described herein.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method operational on a wirelesscommunications device, such as the wireless communications device 500,according to at least one example. Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, awireless communications device 500 may transmit a plurality of datablocks at step 602. For example, the processing circuit 502 may prepareand transmit a plurality of data blocks (e.g., RLC data blocks) via thecommunications interface 504.

At step 604, the wireless communications device 500 initiates a blocktimer when the plurality of data blocks are transmitted. For example,the processing circuit 502 executing the data block transmissionoperations 512 can initiate a block timer associated with each datablock when each data block is transmitted or when a group of data blocksare transmitted. The block timer is associated with a round trip time(RTT). In at least some examples, the block timer can be defined atleast in part by a parameter named the BS_CV_MAX parameter in 3GPP GERANcommunication systems. The processing circuit 502 executing the datablock transmission operations 512 can accordingly initiate a count-downtimer set to a value defined by the BS_CV_MAX parameter associated withthe round trip time for the wireless communications involving thewireless communications device 500.

At step 606, the wireless communications device 500 may receive atransmission which includes an indication that one or more data blocksof the plurality of transmitted data blocks were not successfullyreceived. For example, the processing circuit 502 executing the datablock transmission operations 512 can receive the transmission via thecommunications interface 506. In some instances, the transmission can bereceived prior to expiration of the block timer. The receivedtransmission may be an ACK/NACK report including a NACK indicator foreach of the one or more data blocks that were not successfully received.The ACK/NACK report may be similar to the ACK/NACK report 300 describedabove with reference to FIG. 3, including a reported bitmap (e.g., thereported bitmap 306 in FIG. 3) with a plurality of bits. The one or morebits of the reported bitmap which are associated with the one or moredata blocks that were not successfully received include a NACK value.

At step 608, the wireless communications device 500 retransmits the oneor more data blocks indicated in the received transmission to have notbeen successfully received. For example, the processing circuit 502executing the data block transmission operations 512 can retransmit theone or more data block via the communications interface. In the presentexample, this retransmission occurs irrespective of the status of theblock timer when the transmission was received at step 606. That is, theone or more data blocks can be retransmitted even though the block timermay not have expired when the transmission was received.

When the one or more data blocks are retransmitted, the wirelesscommunications device 500 can restart the block timer at step 610. Forinstance, the processing circuit 502 executing the data blocktransmission operations 512 can initiate the block timer for the one ormore retransmitted data blocks.

At step 612, the wireless communications device 500 may receive anothertransmission with an indication that one or more of the retransmitteddata blocks were not successfully received. For example, the processingcircuit 502 executing the data block transmission operations 512 canreceive the other transmission via the communications interface 506.Like the transmission received at step 606, this other transmission maybe an ACK/NACK report similar to the ACK/NACK report 300 described abovewith reference to FIG. 3, including a reported bitmap (e.g., thereported bitmap 306 in FIG. 3) with a plurality of bits. The ACK/NACKreport includes a NACK indicator for one or more of the retransmitteddata blocks

In some instances, the other transmission can be received by thewireless communications device 500 before the block timer expires. Whenthis occurs, the wireless communications device 500 can ignore anyindication that the one or more retransmitted data blocks were notsuccessfully received at step 614. In such instances, the wirelesscommunications device 500 is uncertain whether the received ACK/NACKreport message was sent by the receiver device before or after theretransmitted data block(s) were actually received. In at least oneexample, the processing circuit 502 executing the data blocktransmission operations 512 may ignore the indication of that one ormore of the retransmitted data blocks were not successfully receivedwhen the other transmission is received prior to expiration of the blocktimer. For instance, when the other transmission is received at step612, the processing circuit 502 executing the data block transmissionoperations 512 can check the status of the block timer. If the blocktimer has not yet expired, the processing circuit 502 executing the datablock transmission operations 512 can ignore any NACK indicatorsassociated with the one or more retransmitted data blocks. On the otherhand, if the block timer has expired, the processing circuit 502executing the data block transmission operations 512 can process theNACK indicators to determine which of the one or more retransmitted datablocks are to be retransmitted again.

For one or more implementations, the processing circuit 502 executingthe data block transmission operations 512 can continue to ignore anegative indicator (e.g., NACK) for each retransmitted data blockwhenever the negative indicator is received prior to expiration of thecurrent block timer. In other words, the processing circuit 502executing the data block transmission operations 512 can ignore theblock timer for negative indicators following the first transmission ofthe data blocks, but can employ the block timer for ignoring negativeindicators for each subsequent retransmission of a data block.

While the above discussed aspects, arrangements, and embodiments arediscussed with specific details and particularity, one or more of thecomponents, steps, features and/or functions illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2,3, 4, 5 and/or 6 may be rearranged and/or combined into a singlecomponent, step, feature or function or embodied in several components,steps, or functions. Additional elements, components, steps, and/orfunctions may also be added or not utilized without departing from thepresent disclosure. The apparatus, devices and/or components illustratedin FIGS. 1, 2 and/or 5 may be configured to perform or employ one ormore of the methods, features, parameters, and/or steps described inFIGS. 3, 4 and/or 6. The novel algorithms described herein may also beefficiently implemented in software and/or embedded in hardware.

Also, it is noted that at least some implementations have been describedas a process that is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, astructure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describethe operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can beperformed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of theoperations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when itsoperations are completed. A process may correspond to a method, afunction, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a processcorresponds to a function, its termination corresponds to a return ofthe function to the calling function or the main function. The variousmethods described herein may be partially or fully implemented byprogramming (e.g., instructions and/or data) that may be stored in amachine-readable, computer-readable, and/or processor-readable storagemedium, and executed by one or more processors, machines and/or devices.

Those of skill in the art would further appreciate that the variousillustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm stepsdescribed in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may beimplemented as hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, orany combination thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability,various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and stepshave been described above generally in terms of their functionality.Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or softwaredepends upon the particular application and design constraints imposedon the overall system.

The various features associate with the examples described herein andshown in the accompanying drawings can be implemented in differentexamples and implementations without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure. Therefore, although certain specific constructionsand arrangements have been described and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, such embodiments are merely illustrative and not restrictiveof the scope of the disclosure, since various other additions andmodifications to, and deletions from, the described embodiments will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, the scope of thedisclosure is only determined by the literal language, and legalequivalents, of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless communications device, comprising: acommunications interface; a storage medium; and a processing circuitcoupled to the communications interface and the storage medium, theprocessing circuit adapted to: transmit a plurality of data blocks viathe communications interface; initiate a block timer associated with around trip time for each data block of the plurality of data blocks inresponse to transmission of the plurality of data blocks; receive afirst transmission via the communications interface, the received firsttransmission including a first indication that at least one data blockof the plurality of data blocks has not been successfully received,wherein the first transmission is received prior to expiration of theblock timer; retransmit the at least one data block via thecommunications interface in response to the first indication that the atleast one data block of the plurality of data blocks has not beensuccessfully received; restart the block timer in response toretransmission of the at least one data block; receive a secondtransmission via the communications interface, the second receivedtransmission including a second indication that the at least oneretransmitted data block has not been successfully received, wherein thesecond transmission is received prior to expiration of the restartedblock timer; and ignore the second indication that the at least oneretransmitted data block has not been successfully received in responseto the second indication being received prior to expiration of therestarted block timer.
 2. The access terminal of claim 1, wherein theblock timer associated with a round trip time is defined at least inpart by a BS_CV_MAX parameter.
 3. The access terminal of claim 1,wherein the first indication that at least one data block of theplurality of data blocks has not been successfully received comprises:an ACK/NACK report including a NACK indicator for the at least one datablock that has not been successfully received.
 4. The access terminal ofclaim 3, wherein the ACK/NACK report including a NACK indicator for theat least one data block that has not been successfully receivedcomprises: a reported bitmap including a plurality of bits, wherein abit associated with the at least one data block includes a NACK value.5. A method operational on a wireless communications device, comprising:transmitting a plurality of data blocks; initiating a block timerassociated with a round trip time for each data block of the pluralityof data blocks; receiving a first transmission including a firstindication that at least one data block of the plurality of data blockshas not been successfully received, wherein the first transmission isreceived prior to expiration of the block timer; retransmitting the atleast one data block in response to the first indication that the atleast one data block of the plurality of data blocks has not beensuccessfully received; restarting the block timer after the at least onedata block is retransmitted; receiving a second transmission including asecond indication that the at least one retransmitted data block has notbeen successfully received; and ignoring the second indication that theat least one retransmitted data block has not been successfully receivedwhen the second transmission is received prior to expiration of therestarted block timer.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein initiating theblock timer associated with a round trip time comprises: initiating ablock timer defined at least in part by a BS_CV_MAX parameter.
 7. Themethod of claim 5, wherein receiving the first transmission includingthe first indication that at least one data block of the plurality ofdata blocks has not been successfully received comprises: receiving anACK/NACK report including a NACK indicator for the at least one datablock that has not been successfully received.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein receiving the ACK/NACK report including the NACK indicator forthe at least one data block that has not been successfully receivedcomprises: receiving a reported bitmap including a plurality of bits,wherein a bit associated with the at least one data block includes aNACK value.
 9. An access terminal, comprising: means for transmitting aplurality of data blocks; means for initiating a block timer associatedwith a round trip time for each data block of the plurality of datablocks; means for receiving a first transmission including a firstindication that at least one data block of the plurality of data blockshas not been successfully received, wherein the transmission is receivedprior to expiration of the block timer; and means for retransmitting theat least one data block in response to the first indication that the atleast one data block of the plurality of data blocks has not beensuccessfully received; means for restarting the block timer after the atleast one data block is retransmitted; means for receiving a secondtransmission including a second indication that the at least oneretransmitted data block has not been successfully received; and meansfor ignoring the second indication in the second transmission that theat least one retransmitted data block has not been successfully receivedwhen the second transmission is received prior to expiration of therestarted block timer.
 10. The access terminal of claim 9, wherein theblock timer associated with the round trip time is defined at least inpart by a BS_CV_MAX parameter.
 11. The access terminal of claim 9,wherein the first indication that at least one data block of theplurality of data blocks has not been successfully received comprises:an ACK/NACK report including a NACK indicator for the at least one datablock that has not been successfully received.
 12. The access terminalof claim 11, wherein the ACK/NACK report including the NACK indicatorfor the at least one data block that has not been successfully receivedcomprises: a reported bitmap including a plurality of bits, wherein abit associated with the at least one data block includes a NACK value.13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, comprisingprogramming for causing a computer to: transmit a plurality of datablocks; initiate a block timer associated with a round trip time foreach data block of the plurality of data blocks in response totransmission of the plurality of data blocks; receive a firsttransmission including first indication that at least one data block ofthe plurality of data blocks has not been successfully received, whereinthe first transmission is received prior to expiration of the blocktimer; retransmit the at least one data block in response to the firstindication that the at least one data block of the plurality of datablocks has not been successfully received; restart the block timer inresponse to retransmission of the at least one data block; receive asecond transmission including a second indication that the at least oneretransmitted data block has not been successfully received, wherein thesecond transmission is received prior to expiration of the restartedblock timer; and ignore the second indication that the at least oneretransmitted data block has not been successfully received in responseto the second indication being received prior to expiration of therestarted block timer.
 14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim13, wherein the block timer associated with a round trip time is definedat least in part by a BS_CV_MAX parameter.
 15. The computer-readablestorage medium of claim 13, wherein the first indication that at leastone data block of the plurality of data blocks has not been successfullyreceived comprises: an ACK/NACK report including a NACK indicator forthe at least one data block that has not been successfully received. 16.The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the ACK/NACKreport including a NACK indicator for the at least one data block thathas not been successfully received comprises: a reported bitmapincluding a plurality of bits, wherein a bit associated with the atleast one data block includes a NACK value.